virtus est per quam confirmati sunt This blessing was the power of Miracles by which they were confirmed in the truth of the Gospel St. Ambrose Origen refers it to the gift of Prophesying whereby S. Paul foretells his coming to Rome instructed with the most eminent gifts of the Holy Ghost Acts 19. 21. Audaciter autem promittere potuit se allaturum copiam Spiritualium Pet. Martyr bonorum qui certo sciret sibi concessam esse Gratiam Apostolatus quam apud eos non dubitabat fore frugiferam saith Peter Martyr He might confidently promise that he should come attended with abundance of Spiritual Blessings because he knew certainly that the Grace of the Apostleship was bestowed upon him which he could not doubt but would be very fruitful and of great efficacy amongst them And this he might very well be sure of upon a double account that is both by experience and by Revelation 1. His experience might well assure him hereof For he was thus highly furnish'd in his administrations to other Churches Thus he tells the Corinthians Truly the signs of an Apostle 2 Cor. 12. 12. were wrought among you in all patience in signs and wonders and mighty deeds And thus he expostulates with the Galathians He therefore that Ministreth to you the Spirit and worketh Miracles among you does he do it by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith or the holy Gospel and to go no further than this very Epistle to the Romans He tells them Rom. 15. 18 19. thus I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me to make the Gentils obedient by word and deed through mighty signs and wonders by the Power of the spirit of God so that from Hierusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully Preached the Gospel of Christ After so great experience of this Divine Assistance he could not doubt of the like as long as he was ingaged in the like service of the Gospel And 2. we may very well conclude Acts 19. 21. too that he had this assurance by Revelation for the Text says expresly That he purposed by the Spirit to go to visit Acts 23. 11. Rome and the Lord appeared to him to encourage him to that effect and hereupon he declares his power and foretells the certain effect of it with so much Rom. 15. 29. Chap. 16. 20. confidence I am sure I shall come to you with the fulness of Evangelical Blessings and thereupon the Lord shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly By this means the Apostle was sure that the Church at Rome would be shortly rescued from those pestilent Impostors and Dissentions which the event witnessed accordingly Haymo is most full in it I 'll transcribe his words Spiritu prophetico afflatus talia cum securitate dicebat Quum autem dicit in abundantiâ benedictionis Christi veniam tale est quale illud quod in exordio hujus Epistolae dixit Desidero inquiens venire ad vos ut aliquid gratiae Spiritalis impertiar vobis ad confirmandos vos In abundantiâ benedictionis veniam plenitudine virtutum ut meâ praedicatione quod minus habetis in fide percipiatis ex virtute miraculorum quae apud vos operabor roboremini in eadem fide ut majorem gratiam Christi in meo adventu percipere mereamini Sic etenim fecit quia veniens quod illis deerat in fide in charitate in caeteris rebus spiritalibus suo adventu supplevit Haymo above eight hundred years ago does deliver this sense fully upon the Text Rom. 15. Being inspired by a Prophetical Spirit he delivered these things with great confidence When he saith I shall come in the abundance of the blessing of Christ He repeats what he had said in the beginning of his Epistle chap. 1. 11. for I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end you may be established I will come unto you in the abundance of the benediction of the Gospel that is in the fulness of power and virtue that what you have wanting in the Faith by my Preaching you may receive it by the power of Miracles which I will work among you that ye may be confirmed in that Faith that you may receive a greater measure of the grace of Christ at my coming And this the Apostle did perform for what was wanting in their Faith in their Charity and in other Spiritual Graces He supplied it at his coming to them The short is the Apostle does declare his sense concerning those Ritual observances but he sent no peremptory command that they should presently walk up to the truth and priviledge of the Gospel in the practice or forbearance of those things 1. Because there was no Bishop or Governor setled to enforce the observation of such a command if it had been sent And 2. Because the opposition was so stiff and the opposers so subtil and prevalent that there was no likelihood that an order or command sent at a great distance from a person whom they had never seen should take effect amongst them Therefore he reserved the full determination settlement of this difference Rom. 14. 1 2 3. till his coming to them in the fulness of the Apostolical Authority and the power of Miracles which he made use of in the settlement of other Churches In the mean while the most prudent provision he could make was 1. To advise them to a Rom. 16. 17. fair compliance with all Christian meekness and condescention and to forbear contempt and rash judgment And 2. To avoid the pestilent Infusions of Impostors by withdrawing from them This justifies the sentiment of Grotius and the Verdict The next place I find Dr. Womock concerned in is at pag. 77. where the Rom. 14. 14. Reconciler observes That the Apostle here declares that the eating of those things which the weak Brother durst not eat was a thing Lawful in it self and that he was perswaded thus to judge by the Lord Jesus and so the scandal which the weak Christian took at the freedom of the strong who used his Christian Liberty in eating of these things was scandalum acceptum non datum scandal Received but not Given the action being such as the weak Christian could not justly be offended at And yet the Apostle plainly doth condemn both here and in the first to the Corinthians verse 8. the ministring occasion to this scandal And therefore tho this Scandal which the Dissenters take at things indifferent enjoyned by Superiors be scandal received and not given this doth not hinder but it may be the Duty of Superiors not to afford occasion to it by the imposing of these things c. From which words of his we see plainly his quarrel is with his Superiors and if they will not come to School to him to learn their Duty they shall hear on 't with
can of the Miscarriages which they know To this the Answer will be very short I know 't is the Ambition of all Hypocrites to be esteemed better than they are and 't is their Study and Care as well as Artifice to seem so but such a man is a great Fool for his Pains he may be deceiv'd himself but God is not mocked by such delusions He hath laid down the Rule and we must stand or fall by it With what Measure ye mete it shall be Measur'd to you again Matth. 7. 2. In this Case I say God's Will be Done If ever this Reconciler finds me either a Rebel to my Prince or a Schismatick to my Church let him deal with me as I shall deserve let him put me into his Pack of Villains and I will forgive him The Reconciler carries on his Argument thus When it is not evidently Protestatio contra Factum we would have Men believe us when we protest that it is purely out of Conscience towards God that we refuse Obedience to the Commands of men and therefore we are by this Rule obliged so to Demean our selves in passing of our Judgements upon others I perceive this Reconciler is young enough to become Wiser If he had been of Age at Forty one he might have seen and taken a Solemn Protestation to maintain His Majesties Royal Person Honour and Estate and after that He might have seen his Weak Brethren take a Solemn League and Covenant wherein they did Protest and Swear with Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven that their design was to make His Majesty a Glorious King to preserve His Royal Person Crown and Dignity and that they had no Thoughts or Intentions to diminish any thing of His Majesties just Power and Greatness How they performed that Protestation Jan. the 30th will be a lasting Commemoration Have we not seen Addresses to the late King from those Dissenting Brethren under the Stile of Your Majesties most Humble and Obedient Subjects when they had their Swords in their Hands ready to Cut His Throat That I was not a Stranger to their Proceedings Pretences and Designes you may conclude from those Historical Observations Printed for W. Webb at Oxford 1643. under the Title of Sober Sadness I 'le vary the Apostle's Stile while I apply my self to our Dissenters I write not these things to shame you but as my deluded 1 Cor. 4. 14. Country-Men I warn you And altho the Spirit of Mildness and Charity may have it's angry Sallies and Emotions yet that you may be sure I do not stretch my self beyond the Line of Justice or Charity in this undertaking I shall acquaint you with the Marks which the Fathers of the Church have left us whereby to discern whether Reprehensions proceed from a Spirit of Piety and Charity or from a Spirit of Impiety and Exasperation These Marks or Rules are Collected to my Hand by Montaltius in his Provincials Letter 11. The first whereof is this 1st That the Spirit of Piety inclines a man to speak alwayes with Truth and Sincerity whereas Envy and Exasperation spares neither Lies nor Calumnies If we advance things which are untrue I say with St. Hilary let our discourses he reputed Infamous but if we plainly shew that what we do produce is publick and manifest it is no Breach of Moderation and Apostolical Liberty to reprove them 2ly As the First Rule is to speak with Truth so the Second is to speak with Discretion Wicked Men sayes St. Augustine persecuting the Good are hurried away with the blind Passion that animates them Whereas the Good Prosecute the Wicked with a Prudent Discretion as Chirurgeons consider where they Cut but Murderers care not where they Strike 3ly The Third Rule is That when a Man is obliged to fall into something of Satyr the Spirit of Piety inclines him to direct his wit against Errours not against Holy things whereas the Spirit of Sycophancy Impiety and Heresy makes Sport with what is most Sacred I wish the Reconciler to consider how Prophane he has bin in maing a May-game of the Observances of the Church 4ly I shall add but one Rule more which is the Principle and End of all the Rest and that is This. That the spirit of Charity inclines a man to make Hearty Wishes for their Salvation against whom He speaks and when He directs his Reproaches to men at the same time to address his Prayers to God A man should always with St. Augustin preserve Charity in his Heart even when he is obliged to do outwardly things that to men seem very Harsh and to smite them with a rough but obliging Severity their Advantage being prefer'd before their Satisfaction This was the Practise of John the Baptist who doubtless desir'd the Salvation of such as apply'd themselves to his Ministry yet how did He upbraid the Pharisees and Saducees with their Viperous Temper How did He undervalue their Carnal Priviledge of having Abraham to their Father as if the conceit of that had bin Charm enough to secure them from approaching Vengeance How does He press them to a Worthy Repentance threatning and even frightning them into it with the keen Ax and a consuming Fire all this Mat. 3. 7 9. c. we are told in the sacred Text and 't was no less an instance of his Love than the discharge of his Holy Office We are now drawing towards the end this Chapter and that were some comfort if were sure he would not entertain us as he hath done too often already with Repetitions but he gives us fair hopes of an End for he saies Lastly were the Scandal which Dissenters take at the imposing of the Ceremonies Scandalum Pharisaicum or like to that which by the Pharises was taken against the Doctrine of our Lord I know not why we should not be concerned to do all which lawfully we may for the Prevention or Removal of it For when our Saviour paid Tribute lest he should offend them did he not then forgo his Liberty to avoid the Scandal of the Pharisees And when the False-Apostles in the Church of Corinth were like to be offended at St. Pauls taking Wages doth he not abstain to prevent that Offence The Reconciler is the only man I have met withall that Loves to talk at Random and without distinction he knows not why we should not be concerned to prevent or remove the Scandal of a Pharisee how far concerned whether in Justice or Charity or upon what other account he doth not tell us However I am ready to do what Lawfully may to such a purpose with all my Heart When I find a man who has turn'd his Back upon Jerusalem to go to Jericho if he has fallen into ill handling and be wounded with Errour and Superstition I will not flatter him that he is in a safe condition like a Levitical Reconciler but I 'le endeavour to dress and bind up his Wounds and deliver him to the Ministry of
it would tell all the World that such Governors renounced their own Judgment and 't is probable many would say they went against their Conscience to humour a froward and unsteady Faction How dangerous such a practice would be we may learn from the experience and complaint of the Royal Martyr in an instance of a like nature I never met saith he with a more unhappy conjuncture of affairs than * That concerned the Destruction of an excellent man and this of an excellent Church when between my own unsatisfiedness in Conscience and a necessity as some told me of satisfying the importunity of some people I was perswaded by those that I think wish'd me well to choose rather what was safe than what seemed Just preferring the outward Peace of my Kingdoms with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Meditat. on the Earl of Straffords Death men before that inward exactness of Conscience before God He tells us He had confessed it with sorrow both to God and men as an act of so sinful frailty that it discovered more a fear of man than God whose name and place on Earth saith he no man is worthy to bear who will avoid inconveniencies of State by acts of so high injustice as no publick convenience can expiate or compensate And then he goes on profoundly thus I see it a bad exchange to wound a mans own Conscience thereby to salve State sores to calm the Storms of Popular discontents by stirring up a Tempest in a mans own Bosom Wherefore our Governors being very well satisfied that in the present settlement of Church affairs they have acted within the proper sphere of their own Office and have had an eye all along to Gods Glory therein tho all the Pharisees of the World should be offended yet let them strenuously assert their own Injunctions with alacrity under the attestation and comforts of a good Conscience 3. In abating those Impositions as this Reconciler requires they should betray the truth of the Gospel in things Indifferent and depretiate the solemn Worship of God which among us is determined to be most Decently and Reverently performed by our present establishment we say according to the sense of the Apostle He that has a jealousie he shall displease God in doing such or such a thing and yet will venture to do it he sins in it because he shews a want of Reverence to the Authority and Majesty of God In like manner should we change that Form of Worship which we think better for that which we think worse a more decent way and manner of Address in our holy Duties for one that is less decent in our own esteem this would argue and declare a want of Reverence towards the Majesty of God whom we pretend to Worship 4. Taking away of those Impositions would cause a greater Mischief than it would prevent For 1. instead of a Passive it would procure an Active Scandal to prevent a Scandal taken there would be a Scandal given A Scandal per se laid in our Neighbours way to remove a Scandal per Accidens For a Scandal by Accident does happen Quando nec operantis intentio nec operis natura aut circumstantia eò tendit ut alter ruat sed prava peccantis dispositione fit ut occasionem peccandi inde hauriat ubi non est When neither the intent of the Imposer nor the nature of the Imposition nor any circumstance thereof tends to that end that any man should fall by it but it comes to pass through the corrupt disposition of the Delinquent that he draws an occasion of sinning from thence where really there is none this is a Scandal by accident and a Scandal taken and this is all the Scandal that the Dissenters have to complain of in these Impositions Whereas the Repealing or ruffling of these Impositions would unsettle a well establish'd Church and rob her of that which is her Glory her good Order which keeps her stedfast in her Faith and Allegiance both to God and man This was so Conspicuous in the Church of Coloss that all men observed it and the Apostle takes notice of it at a distance with great satisfaction Tho I be absent in the Col. 2. 5. flesh yet am I with you in the spirit joying and beholding your Order and the stedfastness of your Faith in Christ Upon which words saith the learned Davenant Seeing Pastors have so great a joy from that good Order that flourisheth among a People it follows that they do unworthily afflict and vex the Prelates of the Church who do contemn and trample down the lawful Ordinances of the Heb. 13. 17. Church contrary to that of the Apostle Obey them that have the Rule over you and submit to them For Ordo est tanquam vallus seductoribus oppositus Order is a Bulwark opposed to prevent the incursions of Seducers They are therefore seldom precipitated into Errors who observe that order of Obedience which is due to their Governors but on the contrary where the Order of Commanding and Obeying is neglected ibi tanquam per disjectam aciem facilè perrumpitur there it is easie to break in upon them as upon a routed and scattered Army Hereupon Grynaeus Professor at 1585. A Col. 2. 5. Lect. 18. Heydelberge among those Gifts wherein a well constituted Church ought to excel he reckons these two Order and the solidity of Faith By Order he understands the whole Liturgie and Discipline of the Church where all things are to be done Decently and in Order 1 Cor. 14. 40. And such as walk Disorderly 2 Thes 3. 6. as far as is possible in ordinem Disciplinae Ecclesiasticae severitate adhibita redigendi sunt They are to be reduced to Order by the severity of Church-Discipline 2. A second Mischief that would arise from the Retrenching of those Impositions would be the Offence given to the weak and tender Members of the Church For we must not deny but we have those that are weak and tender and are not the worse for it and they may very well be jealous with a Godly Jealousie if they should see such a Change such an abolition of our establish'd Ordinances they might very well be Jealous of the truth of our Doctrine about things indifferent jealous of the lawfulness of our Practice herein or else Jealous of our sincerity in our profession of them both And this might prove so great a scandal that the Church of Rome might make a greater Harvest of it than they could of all the Plundering and Persecuting times of the late Rebellion when men of worth and honour did stedfastly adhere to the King and Church out of Conscience finding them so just and steadfast to their own well setled Principles And that of the Father is a known truth Ipsa mutatio consuetudinis etiam quae adjuvat utilitate novitate perturbat The Change of an old Custom gives more trouble and disturbance by the novelty than it can give
Suffragium Protestantium Wherein Our GOVERNOURS ARE Justifyed In Their Impositions and Proceedings Against Dissenters Meisner also and the Verdict rescued from the Cavils and Seditious Sophistry of the Protestant Reconciler By Dr. LAURENCE WOMOCK Arch-Deacon of Suffolk Col. 2. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hoc dico Ne quis vobis imponat Oratione speciosa Per falsas Ratiocinationes Sive ex malitia sive ex Inscitia Id Fiat London Printed for Robert Clavel at the Peacock in St. Pauls Church-yard 1683. A Special Verdict Against the PROTESTANT RECONCILER S. Paul foretold that after his departure grievous Wolves should enter in with a design and malice not to spare but to devour the Flock these were Wolves in Sheeps cloathing whose business was to steal to kill and to destroy but these were not all and perhaps not the most pernicious of the Churches Enemies He foretells further that also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw Disciples after them And this Prophecy is fulfilled in our Reconciler For among others he is risen up with his perverse Principles to make and engage a Party Had he intended the satisfaction or information of his Superiors his Duty would have prompted him to have presented his Papers humbly into their hands and with a modest submission to have expected the result of their wise Councils But a Noverint Vniversi was fitter to carry on his popular Design and to caress his dear Vain-glory. He should have come in the Spirit of Elias to turn the hearts of the Fathers unto the Children the Holy Fathers Mind and Principles their Faith and Affections into the Children and the Disobedient to the Wisdom of the Just That what the Fathers have believed and practised â— L. Brug ad â—uc 1. 17. Paul de Palatiâ— in Mal. 4. 6. the Children may also embrace and follow He could have told them that Christ having assured his Disciples that God who hears the Addresses of His Church he streightly commands them also to hear Her upon pain of forfeiting Her which is the same with His Blessing being deservedly for their contumacy in their Disobedience turned out of Her Communion as Publicans and Heathens He might have been pleased to take notice how Christ resolves the case of Conscience about the Tythe of Mint and Cummin and the weightier matters of the Law saying unto such as were concerned to be well informed These things Matth. 23. 23. ought ye to have done and not to have left the other undone How Christ observed not only the service solemnly established but such Customs and Festivals as had no divine Institution laying down this for a Rule of Conscience Thus it behoves us to fulfill all Righteousness He might have put them in mind as Matth. 3. 15. Tit. 3. 1. St. Paul exhorts to be subject to Principalities and Powers and to obey their Spiritual Guides in their Conduct and to submit to their Orders in regard that Heb. 13. 7. 17. 1 Cor. 14. the spirit of the very Prophets ought to be subject to the greater authority of the Prophets He knows very well that we ought not to be contentious about the Customs and Practices of the Church when they do not supersede the Commands of God nor interfere with them That the Governors of the Church have a great Authority from our Lord and are intrusted in his stead to set things in Order for Edification and Decency in Gods public Worship and Service And when they have done this with great prudence and deliberation that the subjects are to do their duty without murmuring or disputing and to honour such their Governors very highly for their work-sake If not he could have informed his Readers That Christ hath furnisht those Governors with the power of the Keys to shut the door as well as to open it with a Rod for Discipline Authority to mark and censure to admonish and rebuke sharply to stop their mouths who speak preverse things and to reject them from the Communion of Christ's Church if they will neither obey her commands nor regard her admonitions Are they not entrusted by our Lord to make Orders for Discipline and to take the measures of Decency by their own Judgment and Prudence and when they have estabished all things to God's Glory the Peace and Edification of the Church is it our Duty to follow our Guides or to controul them to confront our Governors or to obey them When a difference arose betwixt the Jews and Gentile Converts 't was thought the most prudent and likely Way to compose it to have recourse to Acts 15. Acts 16. 4. the Apostles and Elders about it and the Holy Ghost did assist them in the Decision and S. Paul himself carried about the Decrees to be kept But our Reconciler takes another course to buoy up a sinking Cause and Faction He Censures all the Governors of Church and State decrys their Impositions and directly quarrels their Authority Yet 't was the Resolution of the Brittish Acta Synod in jol De aequitate Decreti Synodici pag. 139. Divines at the Synod of Dort In adiaphoris Supremus Magistratus vice Dei ostendit quid expedit decet The Supreme Magistrate declares in God's stead what is decent and expedient in things indifferent This the whole Synod assented to and by this Rule they justified their Proceedings against the Remonstrants And if the pretence of Christian Liberty be allowed to retrench the Kings Prerogative in Church-matters 't will soon follow the Pope's Practice in Ordine ad Spiritualia and invade his Authority in Temporals All times have afforded examples of turbulent Spirits who thought their Christian Liberty could not consist without the downfall of the Civil Power That their Religion did exempt them from all the Laws and Ordinances of men and gave them a Priviledge to oppose and banish the very Office of the Magistrate from among Argument Ep. ad Rom. 6. Ad Rom. 13. them This Calvin as well as Bullinger has observed And Gualter tells us that the Jews elated with the conceit of their Ancient Dignity took it in great disdain that the Posterity of Abraham Eâ— ad Rom. 13. and the Elect people of God should be in Subjection to the Romans wherefore they made frequent Insurrections to recover their Ancient Liberty and 〈◊〉 had not quite cast off these Principles of Sedition when they embraced the 〈◊〉 of the Gospel Many also of the 〈◊〉 did with no less impaâ—â—â—â—e bear the Yoak of such as were the Professed Enemies of Christ and 〈◊〉 Gospel And 〈◊〉 these a sort of subtil 〈◊〉 did insinuate themselves and having 〈◊〉 the Grace of God into 〈◊〉 that they might enjoy 〈◊〉 câ—rnal satisfactions with the greater license and impunity as St. Jude ob 〈…〉 they made it their business to â—bolish Government By this means the Christian Religion 〈…〉 among such as were in Authority as the Parent and Breeder of Tumults
Had there not been such Persons among them they could neither have been observed nor avoided Non quod condemnatione digna non agat ne ipsum judices he does not forbid judging upon this account because he had done nothing worthy of Condemnation as Bruno and Oecumenius Theophylact Infirmitas non ad corporis imbecillitatem sed ad animi superstitionem referenda Bullinger ad Rom. 141. in margine and so Hyperius and others and our Modern Commentators And among the best of those weak ones the Apostle was so tender of there were faults enough to be blamed 1. Ignorance of that Liberty wherewith Christ had made them free 2. Superstition in adhering so stifly to the Ritual Law of Moses and 3. Vsurpation of Authority to Censure and Condemn others who were better Christians than themselves Here was matter enough for the Cognizance of a Court of Judicature but Authority was wanting there were no Governors establisht for had there been such they had had power to judge which is the second thing that is to be proved And for this we can look no where but we may be furnished with Evidence for what was the Power of the Keys given by Christ to his Apostles but a Power to bind and loose to Inquire and Judge And having made Timothy Bishop of Ephesus and set him to Govern there He instructs him what to do in point of Judicature 1 Tim. 5. 19 20. Against an Elder receive not an Accusation but before two or three witnesses them that sin notoriously rebuke before all that others also may fear He does the like by Titus whom he ordained Bishop of Creet A man that is an Heretick after the first and second Admonition reject Tit. 3. 10. And was it not the Apostles own practice 1 Cor. 5. 3 4 5. For I verily as absent in body 1 Cor. 5. 3 4 5. but present in spirit have judged already as tho I were present concerning him that hath so done this Incestuous Deed In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ when ye are gathered together and my Spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ To deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his soul may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Do not ye judge them that are 1 Cor. 5. 12. within the Pale of the Church and your particular jurisdiction C. Catharinus his Argument is not so Ipse Paulus contra mandatum facientes jâ—dicavit aliis judicandi tribuit facultatem Hierom. Ad Rom. 14. Tu quis c. extremely frivolous as our Reconciler very rashly and ignorantly makes it For he that has a Governor may give an account and may be called to an account by him and must stand or fall by his sentence when he is accused before him 1 Tim. 5. 19 20. 1 Cor. 5. 13. 2 Cor. 2. 6 8. But when there is no such Superior or Governor set over me by our Common Master then I may justly expostulate with my Rash Censurer 'T is his right to Judge me who is Governor or Lord over me Consider thy own business for I am not under thy Jurisdiction as Aretius hath it Thou art a private Christian as well as my self Par in Parem non habet imperium thou hast no command over me No Tribunal to cite me to no Authority to Judge me Who art thou that judgest c. where thou art neither certain of the badness of his action nor of his intention nor hast any Authority or Jurisdiction over him to meddle with or question any action of his whatsoever A Paraphrase and Annotations Anonymus This was the very fault that was condemned here by this Apostle that they Judged without Authority and so David Dicson understands it Iniquum est alienum servum sine vocatione à Deo judicare 'T is a wicked thing to judge another mans servant without a Call and Authority from God to do it How darest thou challenge the right to thy self when thou hast no Law of the Lord for it Thou dost presume too much in usurping that which does not belong to thee as our Synopsis has it out of Grotius and Tollet Aretius a Learned Protestant shall conclude this Argument who saith the same in effect with Grotius upon Rom. 16. 17. Mark and avoid them Because the Church then had no Ordinary Magistrate by which he means Ecclesiastical as well as Civil Governor Privatis ostendit viam quam sequantur Therefore he shews private Persons what course they should take which is the thing that was asserted by Dr. Womock after Grotius But has not this Reconciler taken a great deal of pains to make himself a transgressor and does he not teach the People to arraign their Governors And to give a good example for it he sets himself up a Tribunal and treats his Prince and Bishop as if they were his Servants and under his Jurisdiction What saith S. James He that speaketh evil of his Brother and judgeth his Brother speaketh evil of the Law and Judgeth the Law so he does by consequence but if thou judge the Law thou art not a Doer of the Law but a Judge Jam. 4. 11. Now this Reconciler does directly speak evil of his Governors and the Law too and does freely Judge and Condemn them both and consequently he 's not a Doer of the Law but a Judge He should do well to learn what S. Paul says to his weak Brothers Censure Rom. 2. 21 22. Thou which teachest another teachest thou not thy self Thou that Preachest a man should not steal dost thou steal Thou that saist a man should not commit Adultery dost thou commit Adultery Thou that sayst a man should not judge dost thou judge Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacrilege He robs his Governors of their Authority which is Sacred and usurps it to himself for while he disputes so fiercely against judging in his superiors he does not stick to judge them to censure their Laws and condemn their Innocent Impositions If it be never Lawful for the Christian of what degree or rank soever he be to judge the Person whom God has received to walk uncharitably towards his Brother as he saith p. 72. much less to carry himself thus towards his Superiors why then does he so rashly and insolently judge his Governors either he thinks God hath not received them and then he walks uncharitably towards them or else he believes God has received them and then his judging of them besides the incivility and sawciness of it is unlawful by his own Rule and so he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like the Heretick Tit. 3. 10. condemned at his own Tribunal But 't is nothing with him to break his own Rules we shall find him at it again in handling the next Argument which the Dr. confesseth he had not the least hint of from any Author but took it upon trust from the words of the Apostle Hast thou Faith have it
the progress of the Gospel amongst them in the very infancy of it And wanting Church-Governors with a secular Arm to assist them nothing was able to extinguish their dissentions and bring them to a quiet settlement till the fulness of Apostolical Authority with the power of Miracles should come among them as shall be declared hereafter But our Reconciler tells us 't is the perpetual Duty of the highest Christians to follow after the things which make for Peace and whereby they may edify one another This we can easily grant him but as Theodoret observes the Apostle Ad Rom. 15. 4. does not pray for their peace indefinitely and absolutely but 't is an honest and pious Consent and Concord that he wisheth them according to the example of Jesus Christ Has not God given us Guides and are not we bound to follow peace after their direction and example Have not they a command as well as a power Heb. 13. 7 17. to set things in Order to make Decrees and Ordinances for the establishment of Peace and Unity and are not these the means to promote Edification Did not S. Paul himself carry about such Decrees to be kept of the Churches where he went and were not those Churches established in the Faith thereupon and increased in their numbers as well as in their piety by that means Acts 16. 4 5. These are truths that are evident of themselves and owned by the Learned of all Perswasions the Ordering and Appointment of honest and decent Rites See the Verdict p. according to the word of God makes much for the preservation of Discipline and to strengthen the bond of Peace saith David Rungius and Calvin himself Hereupon we find that the great Apostle made Ordinances of the like nature which are called Traditions and they were about things indifferent of no absolute necessity but only for decency such as the Womans Vail in publick 1 Cor. 11. 2. Assemblies And such as did observe those Ordinances he commends but 2 Thes 3. 6 14. such as did neglect them he does severely censure And tho he was gentle as a Nurse to cherish his children in the Faith yet did he exercise the Authority of a Father too in charging and 1 Thes 2. 7 11. commanding them to observe his Discipline And let this Reconciler or any of the Dissenters whose Cause he Pleads prove that ever the liberty of such Children was allowed either by Christ or his Apostles to overtop or check the Authority of such a Father and I will yield the Cause In the mean while Dr. Womock keeps his Ground viz. That this was only a Temporary provision to keep the Peace among private Christians and hereupon the Reconciler requires him to prove that the things above-mentioned Rom. 14. were only Temporary and that Church-Governors are now at liberty to walk uncharitably towards the weak and to destroy the work of God for meat and drink and we are satisfied Here we are called upon to prove two things and I am afraid the last will prove him to be a Sophister But we shall attempt to prove the first That those things were only Temporary 'T is the express affirmation of Aretius Ad Rom. 15. that these Roman Christians having no Ordinary Governor the Apostle shews private men the way which they should walk in as was observed formerly And Ad Rom. 14. And Beza observes Apostolum non praecipere ut ejusmodl ignorantia foveatur sed duntaxat ut tuleretur tantisper dum isti possint erudiri Ad Rom. 14. 2. When they became stubborn and indocible They were rejected that the provision was but for a time is the express Doctrine of Hemmingius Aliquid ad tempus Fratrum infirmitati largiendum est Something is to be allowed for a time to the infirmity of our Brethren secus de obstinatis pertinacibus judicandum est but we must determine otherwise of the obstinate and stubborn He speaks of weak Christians which he supposes to be in every particular Church in these days but if care were duly taken to Catechise our Youth and to instruct them in the Principles of Acts 13. 46. Christianity touching Authority and Liberty according to the truth of the Gospel as S. Paul calls it this kind of Intellectual Rickets and the weakness that follows it would be perfectly corrected in our Minority and we should never infest the Church with our frowardness upon that account But my task is to prove that the Directions which the Apostle gives to those Christians at Rome had a peculiar reference 1. To that present time 2. To some special things and 3. To that Critical Dispensation 1. To that present time and he that will take the pains to consider the Case can never be perswaded that such cautions and directions as were given to Jews or Gentil-Converts in reference purely to those Federal Rites of the respective Institutions to which they had so lately been accustomed He I say can never be convinced that they do lay any obligation upon such as were bred up in Christianity from their Cradles But that these cautions were calculated for that present time we have reason to believe upon farther evidence 1. The Apostle in his great prudence was wont to make such Temporary 1 Cor. 7. 26. provisions such was his advice about Virgins I suppose saith he this is good for the present distress not that Marriage was a more impure state of Life but to avoid the difficulties and molestations of it Single persons were in a better condition more prompt and easie to grapple with Persecutions which in those days did more frequently afflict the Professors of the Gospel The Apostle has an eye to the like Rom. 12. 11. difficulties among the Romans and therefore he enjoyns them to be fervent in Spirit serving the season For many Copies See Dr. Hammond his note on the place and Dr. Stearne Aphoris de felicitate §. 2. Aphor. 22. read the Text so and therefore Dr. Hammond doth thus Paraphrase the Text Doing those things that in respect of the Circumstances of time and place wherein now you are may most tend to the honour of God and building up of the Church And S. Ambrose descants very well upon the place lest they should unseasonably press matters of Religion in an evil time whereby they might raise up Scandal therefore he subjoyns this caution serving the time The great matters of Faith and Religion Ambros ad Rom. 12. he would have them discoursed of modestly and discreetly in a fit time and in a convenient place and among fit Persons For there are som esaith he even among our selves in times of Peace The Epist for the 2d Sunday after the Epiphany in the old Liturgy read it so who do so abhor the way of Christ that they can no sooner hear but they will Blaspheme it And S. Paul himself made it his practice sometimes to apply himself to the
Reconciler does acknowledge page 74. into favour and attested it by the effusions of his Spirit on us say the Jews And why shall we abandon our Liberty and Privilege say those Gentils seeing God hath done the like to us This was the difference and dispute between them and nothing but the Ministry of a Divine Authority assisted by the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost and agreeing in a Declaration to the same effect and the power of Miracles was able to bring them to Conformity and unite them entirely into one Catholick Communion This I call a Critical dispensation and it can never be the Case of the Christian Church again unless Elias should come a second time as some do vainly dream to make a farther Reformation and then perhaps S. Pauls Rules might be in season again before the World could come to any settlement How far is the Case of Dissenters wide of this were they bred under any other Divine Law than that which we profess and practise Have they any pretence to some other divine Institutions Have they any divine prohibition against any thing the Church observes Do we violate any Ordinance that is known to be prae-establisht by Divine Authority why then do they take up the perverse or peevish practice of those Jews and run upon the same Rock of Judaism and Superstition as if they were called to it by a voice from Heaven when they have not the like pretence for it For either the Law of Moses is in force or it is not If they think it is in force They may scruple at the eating of a black Pudding or touching the Corps of their dearest friend deceased or ploughing with an Oxe and an Asse which conjunction in a Tropical sense they never scruple at If that Law be not in force at all in their opinion why do they plead what S. Paul discourses upon the account of them who believed it was If it concerns us at all it must be either directly or indirectly and by a parity of Reason But 1. not directly because it relates to a Law whereby things were distinguish'd into clean and unclean 2. Not indirectly or by a parity of Reason because the like critical juncture of circumstances is never like to happen Let them therefore set their hearts at rest For those Rules of condescention and forbearance which the Apostle prescribed as a temporary provision to keep those private Christians quiet under that Critical Dispensation can never serve to justifie their Separation upon such groundless doubts empty Scruples and vain Imaginations And now having made it clear to all Rom. 14. 1â— Chapters impartial Readers that the Apostle did not direct this his advice to Governors but prescribed it only as a Temporary provision to keep the peace among private Christians We must expect no Quarter from the Reconciler but to be severely loaden with the reproach of an odious Inference 'T is not enough it seems to prove that the things there mentioned were only Temporary but we are called to a fresh Task to prove that Church-Governors are now at liberty to walk uncharitably towards the weak and to destroy the work of God for meat and drink Do this says he very fairly and we are satisfied This any man would think a fair offer at the first hearing but upon second thoughts we find that by suppressing one of the premisses he hides a sallacy and herein he is either catch'd himself and deceived in his own captious way of reasoning and that betrays his want of Logick or else he designs wittingly to impose upon the weakness or credulity of his Reader and then he shews his want of honesty If we put his Argument into Form for him it must run thus He that says Those Rules above-mentioned were but a Temporary Provision to keep the Peace among private Christians he leaves Church-Governors at liberty to walk uncharitably towards the weak and to destroy the work of God for meat and drink But Dr. Womock says Those Rules above-mentioned were but a Temporary Provision to keep the Peace among private Christians ergo Dr. Womock leaves Church-Governors c. We must give him time to prove the major Proposition and I believe he will take till Dooms-day and then he may have something else to answer for His disturbing the peace of the Church and encouraging an ungovernable Faction in their Schism and Sedition But let us follow him Dr. Womock saith from Catharinus They were Rules to be received till the Apostles had made a perfect determination and truly saith the Reconciler if this were all they were not to be observed at all His Reason follows For in this very Chapter he plainly saith that the things scrupled by the weak were pure and lawful in themselves and that he knew and was perswaded by the Lord Jesus that there was nothing unclean of it self which is as perfect and full a determination of the Case against the weak as words can make Let us take notice 1. that we have here the Key put into our hands by the Apostle himself to open and unlock his meaning and to give us the full account of his design which was to indulge the Jewish Christians who had been bred up under the Mosaical Dispensation wherein days and meats were distinguished into such as were clean or unclean common or holy which cannot concern us who pretend to no such distinction in that Legal sense or of any Divine Authority Having observed thus much 2. I answer That the Apostle did declare his judgment in the Case as to the matters in question de jure but as to the use and practice of them at Rome He did not as yet settle or determine them de facto by his Apostolical Authority But with us the case is otherwise we have a Determination and Settlement against our pretended weak ones both de jure and de facto too For they know there is nothing de jure unclean or unlawful among us and that de Facto Authority hath setled what they dispute against That S. Paul has determined the Case de jure we have his own concession and that elsewhere he did state and settle it de facto he is forced to confess and indeed his concessions are so full when he comes to himself that they are a perfect confutation of his whole Book if a man would give himself the trouble or the leisure to collect them That the Apostle did determine the Case de facto as to other Churches are so full and clear that we have no need of other evidence to prove it The These Epistles were written after that to the Romans Apostle saith he doth in the Epistles to the Galathians and Colossians speak severely against their observation of the Jewish Festivals p. 80. And does he not condemn them for their superstitious abstaining from certain meats and drinks Let no man judge you in meats and drinks and let no man beguile you of your
shall not do that which is right in your own eyes That is the common practice of such as have no Coercive Government And this is the attempt of such as would have none Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men Numb 16. 14. We will not come up They think they have lost their own eyes if they may not be allowed to do what they list Such an one was Corah and we are foretold there would spring up a Race of pretended Christians of the same stamp and that their doom was already paradigmatized and set forth in Effigie by his destruction Woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain who out Jude Ep. v. 1. of Malice and Envie slew his Brother Abel a figure of the true Church of God and ran greedily after the error of Balaam who Prophesied as ill things as he could Rev. 2. Hemmingius ad Ep. St. Jude and projected worse for the reward of Lucre and applause and perished in the gainsaying of Corah And in the description of Corah and his Company Hemmingius observes first that he was not content with that degree of honour to which he was advanced and then that he did blaspheme the Magistrate and endeavoured to take away all Degrees from among the Ministers of God And to effect this he made use of a specious Argument viz. That it was a very unworthy thing that the holy people of God should be subject to any Head on Earth The Papists he says follow this Example who will not suffer their Priests to be subject to the Civil Magistrate to have any Authority in the Church and Joannes Agricola has the Annot. In Tit. 3. 1. He lived about 1530. like charge against the Bishops of Rome who pull down Magistracy as if it were an injurious encroachment and not an Ordinance of God that upon the ruin of this they may establish their own Tyranny similes his fuerunt Prophetae Phanatici horum temporum And such were the Phanatick Prophets of these times whose folly saith he hath been wonderfully discovered And now the fury of the Anabaptists wish and aim at nothing more than the common destruction of all the Laws and honest Constitutions of the Magistrates And are not we leavened with this horrible Fanaticism To say that Church-Governors have not power to impose any thing for Decency and Order but what is necessary and commanded is in effect to charge the Vniversal Church for 1500 years together more or less with Vsurpation and Tyranny and contradicts the Judgment and Declarations of the most Learned Protestants of any credible Denomination See the Verdict pag. 24 c. There can be no publick Worship of See the Verdict p. 24. p. 35. p. 223. and the two Letters God solemnly performed unless some Rules be observed therein If every man were allowed to have his Psalm his Revelation his Interpretation to use the Apostles own instance if every 1 Cor. 14. 26. one were suffered to pick and choose his own time place gesture there could be no Decency no Order nothing but Confusion And the unlearned Ibid. v. 2 3. yea and the learned too that should come into our Assemblies would certainly say we were mad To prevent this Governors are set up in the Church to determin what is fit to be done and to restrain our vagrant Liberty to the use and Practice of what is so ordained 1 Cor. 14. 40. Let all things be done decently and in order This is an Apostolical Injunction and that is of great Authority and so sacred that no humane Liberty is allowed to dispute much less to affront it for indeed a greater that St. Paul is here these Injunctions touching matters of Decency and Order they are the Commandments of God and the Apostle would have the greatest pretenders to the Spirit to know it 1 Cor. 14. 34. so that we have an Apostolical we have a Divine Command for Governors and that lays a necessity upon them to make such Ordinances and consequently the things Ordeined are neither uncommanded nor unnecessary The evidence of truth is so strong in Pag. 340. this Case that the Dissenters are forced to allow that there be many Cases where somewhat in genere is necessary to be determined They also add that in all Cases truly such the Magistrate Civil or Sacred not only may but must determine and indeed saith the Reconciler no man in his wits can doubt that what is necessary to be determined must be determined and seeing Par in parem non habet potestatem it follows that they cannot be determined by any other but Superiors i. e. they cannot be obligingly determined by others Thus our Reconciler But it is a great mistake to think that Authority in this Case is restrained to things Necessary All things are Lawful for me saith the Apostle but all things are not expedient If he had restrained his or our Liberty to things Necessary he would have argued to that effect All things are Lawful for me but all things are not necessary and he would 1 Cor. 6. 12. 10. 23. have injoyned us to keep to things necessary but he argues otherwise All things are Lawful but all things are not Expedient Wherein he teacheth us to distinguish of things whereof some saith he are expedient and some are inexpedient Which are expedient is not left to every man to judge for then we should run again into Madness and Confusion as was observed even now When we speak of Necessary things Acts 15. 28 29. we had need be wary and speak with distinction otherwise the word has so many significations we may easily be insnared in a Fallacy upon that account The Decree of the Council at Jerusalem runs thus It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things That ye abstain from meats offered to Idols and from Blood and from things Strangled and from Fornication Some men I observe run into a great mistake in making the necessity here mentioned to be Antecedent to the Decree of the Council in respect of the Nature of the things forbidden except Fornication which is of doubtful interpretation too If those observed things were Antecedently necessary then they had some moral goodness in them and were commanded because they were good which is not affirmed of the Ceremonial Law Besides Acts 15. 23. this Decree was sent to the Gentiles and made for their use and observation and these things could not be necessary to them Antecedently to them because the Ceremonial Law of Moses did not oblige or concern them The necessity therefore which those things had I except Fornication in our common sense of the word was Consequent to that Decree of the Council Nor could the necessity there mentioned be absolute or simply such for such necessity has no Law but is a Law to it self but only a Hypothetical Necessity or a necessity